Felt hat and process of making it



Sept. 29, 1931. v F. J. MUHLFELD 1,824,735

FELT HAT AND PRCSCESS OF MAKING IT Filed July 5, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet lWITNESS INVENTOR F/m/v/r J. fi/l/f/LFELD A ITO/(NE VS Sept. 29, 1931. F.J. MUHLFELD 1,324,785

FELT HAT AND PROCESS OF MAKING IT Filed July 5, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2ImmL L [N VENT 0R [RAW/f d MUf/L FELD WITNESS A 77011 NE YS PatentedSept. 29, .1931

FELT nArnnn: rnoonss or" mkme 1r iapplieation fi led Jlulyi, 1529. m,in. 376,132;

The object a my messes-1st mated of producing a perforated felt hat andthe article produced by'sujch method-. lThe hat produced by my novelmethodhasthe advan- Z finished; Fig. 2 shows the hat ofjFig. 1 aftercuts have been made therein; 1F ig. 3 showsthe hat of F ig 2 aftr'ithasf'bee'n stretched over a block of a size whichi'sto correspond withthe interior of the finished hat ;}Fig; A shows the hat of Fig. 3 afteritjhas b en subjected to .asteaming process; and Fig.,.5 showsthe hat ofFig; 4 finished and given the conventional- Fedora shape.- d 6illustrates 'a "womanls hatof the type known as clipped velours havi g,.-the invention rappliedflthereto;Fig. 7

shows a velours hat; not clipped having the invention applied thereto,and Figs.'-8 and 9, the latter; a section yalon'githe line- 9 9 of'Fig.8, illustrate a hat having the invention applied thereto in a difiere'ntmanner and with the apertures closed rneans of: an orna mentalbraid.

The following a "brief Summary of the steps to which I submit a hat bodyin accordance with my invention in order to produce a commercial hat: a1

1. Shapingthe hat body on a block somewhat smaller than the one by whichI give it its final shape (Fig. 1).

2. Cuttingslits into the hat body without,-

however, removing any material from such hat body (Fig. 2)

3. Blocking is to give it its final shape, thus stretching the Lmaterial and enlarging the slits out there into into apertures (Fig. 3).

the hat body on a block which "f. I s ibj6cting the that to the" usualsteam mg process; thus causing'the material to shrink and' furtherenlarge [the apertures 5 Finishingthe. hat, in a suitable manner "togive itf-it's' finallan'd marketable form for instancqclipping vit if itis a velours hat (Fig., 6)f 'ojr ornamenting. it"with ribbon k on Orig.' 5 or applying braid on r "Figflillustrates a hat body d' whichhashad its crown portion'stretched over ablock smaller than theinteriorwhich "the; finished hat crown isto have "For instance, if the finishedhat is to be of a 7 4 size theblockj would be approximateW/g size, Forthe urpose of manufacturing?convenience the rim b is shaped atthat'stageof theproces's;

beeniremoved from'the' first block and after t has been providedwithcuts'or' slits a" provided byineans of a sharp knife 'e'dge, The'se cutsmayjbearranged in any desired manner Fig; ZYilLus'tratesthe'hat bodyafter it h s i if? igive" such ornamental e'fiect as the 1mm:

facturer desires to: produce: and may. within reasonable limits beappliedin anygdesire'd Fig. 3 shows the .hatof Fig. 2 stretched over ablock dwhich gives'the crown its. final 1 shape and size {for instance;a block of a7% size if'the first block usedis of a, size ofapproximately 6 vThe amount offstret ch ing ,would be, determined by thenature and tightness go'f 'the felt used. The apertures e 'arenow largerthan the slits c of Fig. because the edges of the slits: have pulledaway fromeaeh other. o f r Thereafter the hat is subjected toxthesteaming process, thus causing the material of thehat. to shrink. In themanufacture of theordinary, i e. unperforated hat; the ma terial inshrinkingibecomesthinner but in my' hat the material shrinks insuch'a-manner as to "become thicker as the presence of the slits '0compels it to shrink in such manner. I This-thickness approaches thethickness :of the original hatb'ody. The material whichordinaril'ygwould be inthe spaces delimited bythe H edges of the apertures ehasserved to thicken and to strengthen the material of the crown is made. p

' Fig. 5 illustrates the hat of Fig. 4 after it has been finished so asto conform to style standards, being shown in such figure in theconventional form of a Fedora hat. The

' larger the number of apertures in such hat the more material iscontained er unitof surface area of the felt in the hish'ed hat andtherefore the stronger is the hat, or, con

' versely, the greater thenumberof apertures the thinner may be thematerial of the hat body a is originallymad'e.

Every hat body by blocking, steaming finishing processes is subjected tovarious stresses-and it is the strains producedby these stresses intheinaterialwhich tend gradually to distort the finished'hat andtocompel a rehlocking of the same from time to time in order to restoreits original neat appearance. In my'hat the. majority of the strainspresent tend to be relieved" during the normal process of itsmanufacture by enlarging the V apertures, and therefore'my hat will keepits shape "better than an ordinary 'hatiiwhich has not been perforatedor a hat which has been perforated merely by cutting away some of itsmaterial;' v i V g In Fig. 6 I have illustrated a Womans'hat providedwith apertures 6"produe'edi in the manner hereinabove described andarranged groi'ip's'sof 'astof'pr'oduce" distinct patterns.

This hatma'y be of ordinary pounced felt or, as intended to be,illustrated, "of clipped ve 'lours, the body having originally beenmadethemanner disclosed injmy United States Letters "Patent; No; 1,066,746;dated July 8, 1913,and- No. 1,117,886? dated" November 17,

11914,;and finished by a clipping operation.

IngFig, 7;' I have shown 'ahat madein'a c 'cordance with n y 'inventionfromjajvel'ours hat-body-macle in'accordance with theinventionsdisclosed in said Letters Patent w-ithout,;h owever, having beenclippedl- The apertures are coveredbut not entirely" concealed by thelong velours'fibres' extending from the surface of the body. i 1 theshrinking of the body ner liereinabo've described, the surface areavoffbody is' reducethwithout' of courselredu cing the number ofupstanding or nap""(velours)- fibres, thus'resulting'" in" theproduction of a closer or fuller nap, thus enhancing the beauty-ofthenap.

i Fig. 81 have illustratedanother method in which myinvention may benfilized for which "in the inanf 7 ;apertures The brim; will, of course,have to be stretched, or stretched and steamed, in

order to enlarge the slits to form the apertures. The method ofstretching the brim is so familiar to manufacturers of hats that theprocess of so doing need not be: described here,

" The edgeso'f the sl it s during, the stretchlag and steaming processeswill be "ulled apart and will tend to assume 'an ovoi form so that even?the pointed ends .of the apertures wil'l gradually (assume a pleasantlyrounded form.

Ic'l'ai'mflv .7 i i 1'. In the manufacture 'of'a felt hat the stretchingthe hat body and thensubjecting the hat bod'yt'o'st'eam while the hat isclosely steps of cutting slits into the hat body,

fitted to ajblock, so as to shrink the material of such body. 7

M 2: "In'the manufacture of felt" hat the 1 steps'of blocking a hatbod-yon a block, out? ting slits into the'liat body, stretching the hatbody one bloekof a size" largerthanthat of the first-mentioned block andthen steaming the'ha't whileon thelas't-mentioned 'block so as to shrinkthe material of the-hat body. A hat body made of feltedf'ma'terialprovided with one orimore ovoid. apertures, the opposite edges of eachaperture being spaced from one another, the material on one side of eachaperture containing alarge number of severed portions OfbrigiIIaI fibresand the material on the other side c0ntain= substantially in the: sameplane and being ing substantially theenftilre 'rernainder'fof suehoriginal fibres, th'e apices of each ovoid aperture" being" slightlyrounded to anl'outlline attainableonlybyi first cutting" a slit intothe'hat body, then stretching and'tlien shrinkingsuch hat body. r i 1 I I jFRANK J. MUHLFELDr the? purpose of ornamentingfa hat without Inecessarily providing for ventilation. The sl-it'sje, f g and hare solong; thatbytheproces's' of: blocking and steaming their edgesrare bestrengthened and the-hat ornamented by covering. such openings withornamental material, 's'ucfh'as braid '1} or' any; other suitable mat ril-1 ffi d to e n e m of; th ha separatechvery widely and such-edges may

